Decreasing
What does this measure?
The share of rental housing units with people paying 30% or more of their income in rent.
Why is this important?
The federal government considers 30% of income a threshold for affordable housing. Renters paying more than 30% of their income in rent are considered cost-burdened and may struggle to afford other basic needs.
How is Westchester County performing?
In 2016-20, 50% of rental units in Westchester County had residents whose housing costs were above the affordability threshold. That was higher than the national level of 46% and just above the state rate of 49%. Westchester's rate declined 3 percentage points from 2011-15.
Westchester's rate was lower than Rockland at 57%, similar to Nassau at 51%, and Putnam at 47%. Municipalities with the some of the highest shares of cost burdened units include Peekskill at 59% and Mount Vernon at 55%.
Notes about the data
Multi-year figures are from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. The bureau combined five years of responses to the survey to provide estimates for smaller geographic areas and increase the precision of its estimates. The survey provides data on characteristics of the population that used to be collected only during the decennial census.
| 2011-15 | 2016-20 | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westchester County | 53% | 50% | |||||||||||||||||
| Nassau County | 53% | 51% | |||||||||||||||||
| Putnam County | 52% | 47% | |||||||||||||||||
| Rockland County | 59% | 57% | |||||||||||||||||
| New York State | 51% | 49% | |||||||||||||||||
| Mount Vernon | 57% | 55% | |||||||||||||||||
| New Rochelle | 56% | 54% | |||||||||||||||||
| Peekskill | 60% | 59% | |||||||||||||||||
| Rye City | 37%* | 32%** | |||||||||||||||||
| White Plains | 55% | 45% | |||||||||||||||||
| Yonkers | 52% | 51% | |||||||||||||||||
| Westchester County Towns | |||||||||||||||||||
| Westchester County Villages | |||||||||||||||||||
Notes: Multiyear results are from rolling American Community Survey. * Margin of error between 20% & 35% of estimate; ** margin of error between 35% & 50%; *** margin of error greater than 50%.
| 2011-15 | 2016-20 | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westchester County | 69,401 | 68,590 | |||||||||||||||||
| Nassau County | 46,301 | 43,068 | |||||||||||||||||
| Putnam County | 3,210 | 2,881 | |||||||||||||||||
| Rockland County | 18,098 | 18,512 | |||||||||||||||||
| New York State | 1,709,640 | 1,654,396 | |||||||||||||||||
| Mount Vernon | 8,710 | 9,309 | |||||||||||||||||
| New Rochelle | 7,972 | 7,306 | |||||||||||||||||
| Peekskill | 2,746 | 2,861 | |||||||||||||||||
| Rye City | 530* | 527** | |||||||||||||||||
| White Plains | 5,922 | 5,051 | |||||||||||||||||
| Yonkers | 20,076 | 20,600 | |||||||||||||||||
| Westchester County Towns | |||||||||||||||||||
| Westchester County Villages | |||||||||||||||||||
Notes: Multiyear results are from rolling American Community Survey. * Margin of error between 20% & 35% of estimate; ** margin of error between 35% & 50%; *** margin of error greater than 50%.
